Hi. I’m used to playing this Fury Warrior of mine and I’ve been trying to branch out into other classes. I set my sights on Paladin and I’m fresh off the boat from that new starting area thing. Any tips and tricks you veterans can pass on?
For background, I made a Blood Elf who’s going for a Damage role. I literally have nothing other than the stuff I got at Hero’s Exile or whatever it’s called.
Thanks for reading!
Ret is bad and i mean it, if you wanna have fun play prot cuz it can do more dmg and you feel like you are in charge .
Are you planning on going for end game content like M+/Raiding?
In PvE specifically, rets are not good. 9.1.5 uncapped AoE made them slightly better, but since everyone got uncapped AOE, nothing has really changed (OL rogue is the only hard capped @5 spec in the game)
I am holy paladin. There are a lot of Prot paladins. Very few rets.
Rets are fiiine for casual M+, maybe for 15’s. But you gotta be godly to really get past that.
One of the reasons rets got bad stigma around them, as very few rets feel the need to utilize their blessings for the group. So they just DPS.
I’d say either go tank or holy. Healing is defo harder than tanking imho. Healers carry groups 
And, unlike druids lets say, Paladins are reactive healers — meaning - you heal AFTER the damage went through. There are no HoTs, just a bunch of insta casts heals.
So, druids are pro-active healers. You pretty much have to set up ALL your HoTs on everyone BEFORE the damage happens. And I hated it
I’ve read though these posts like ten times and I still don’t understand what’s going on.
You’ll have to forgive me, I’m not very smart when it comes to this stuff.
So, what exactly are you looking for?
How to level?
Leveling as ret is totally fine. Self healing is always good.
The higher you go in leveling, the faster the pace will be, as you will get more abilities.
Ret is the best, to hell with the rest.
I see. Very good to know.
Would you recommend any previous expansions to play though?
as soon as you reach max level, ttry to hit 18%+ haste. it makes the class run so much more smoother. if you want consistant damage, go venthyr, want hella burst every min go kyrian, wanan break the mold for necro, want to put all your money in rngesus, go nightfae
About that haste thing. How would I go about that?
looking out for gear with haste as a secondary stat
So for ret the name of the game is burst damage. While your cooldowns are up your damage is really good, but when they’re down your damage output is pathetic. The trick is figuring out when to use those cooldowns to get the most out of them and to not hold off on them for too long.
Also you’ll need to make good use of your utility spells when needed, usually when you’re on cooldown.
Despite what people have been saying in this thread, ret isn’t really that bad. It’s just not really the best. It’s a little harder to do good but very easy to do badly if that makes sense.
I guess that kinda makes sense? I dunno.
I’m not used to looking at all these little stata and paying them much mind.
I’ve been trying to figure out how classes function similarly, and I’ve leveld a few fury warriors as I feel they’re a bit more fun.
The big difference, obvi, is the difference between rage and holy power. Consider Templar’s Verdict, Divine Storm, and Word of Glory as you would Carnage, they’re the big spenders everything is building towards.
Hammer of Wrath is basically our Execute, while Blade of Justice is closer to Reckless Swing, while Crusader Strike is a more gimped version of Bloodthirst.
(Forgive me if I’m saying the names slightly off.)
If you’re just starting off, and intent on staying ret, I suggest going Kyrian, possibly Necrolord. They are the most consistent covenant at our disposal and require much less awareness than either Ashen Hallow or Blessing of Summer.
Generally speaking, your burst rotation is something like:
Build 5 holy power> Avenging Wrath+Seraphim> (Covenant Ability)> Templar’s Verdict/Divine Storm> Wake of Ashes> Templar’s Verdict/Divine Storm> Judgment(+Blade of Justice if Necrolord)> Templar’s Verdict/Divine Storm
Your rotation from there is less exact and more an order of priority. Of our abilities below 30 seconds you priority is something to the effect of:
Blade of Justice
Hammer of Wrath
Judgment
Crusader Strike
Consecration
Do not use Consecration unless in an AoE situation or you have no other buttons to press, in single target it deals less damage than Crusader Strike and doesn’t generate Holy Power.
Finally, do not sit on Holy Power unless you are about to do your burst rotation. You have 3 holy power, spend it. Last thing you want is to have Art of War proc you a free Blade of Justice and you’re sitting at 4 holy power. You’re wasting the holy power, and that means less Templar Verdict/Divine Storm casts.
Finally, sim gear to find what works best for you. Having around 20% haste will smooth out your rotation, however as you get better and better at it you can use less and less, especially with the Kyrian Covenant Legendary.
That sounds like a lot to keep track of.
Because it is. Take only
Passive talents at first. Do not add buttons. Your class generates holy power and then spends that power to do damage. Practice simply Just using the buttons in the spell
Book and reading their descriptions to figure out what they do and when to use one over the other. Take your time with it and ultimately you can start to complicate it little by little to maximize your damage output. Once your comfortable with the basics, come back for more in depth discussion if your interested in that, otherwise just enjoy yourself! Good luck 
Protection is probably the best way to go about leveling as it’s one of the best if not the best AOE tanks in the game which means you can pull a ton of quest mobs and burn them down pretty efficiently.
Retribution is a good damage dealer that has good self healing and defenses which allows it to face down tougher and tankier mobs that classes like Warriors for example could be ground down by.
The key to really making it shine is to know how and when to use your DPS CDs to maximum effect. If lined up properly, you can absolutely crush the opposition.
Damage can be a bit lackluster outside of burst CDs, but if you take the right talents and gear correctly you can keep your damage output pretty consistent.
Ret can be tricky to play in PVP because it has a few notable weaknesses you have to watch out for such as it’s low mobility and lack of an instant gap closer. Picking your fights properly and using your utility at the right time is key to victory.
Berok, here’s a simple talent build I suggest you follow as you level. It’s a lot of fairly passive stuff that won’t add new abilities that you will have to worry about. Divine Purpose is the only talent that changes the way you play a little bit, and you don’t get that until level 40.
Zeal
Blade of Wrath
Fist of Justice
Cavalier
Divine Purpose
Selfless Healer
Sanctified Wrath
Beyond talents, all I’d really suggest is to get a feel for holy power (the resource Retribution Paladins use to deal damage). Some abilities build holy power such as Crusader Strike and Judgment, while others like Templar’s Verdict are what we call holy power spenders. You usually want to prioritize building holy power over spending holy power, unless of course you’re already maxed out on holy power! Then what’s the point of building it, right? Spend away! Use Templar’s Verdict if you have one target, or Divine Storm (learned at level 23) if you have more than one target.
Ret can be a little more complex than what I just described, but that’s the gist of it. Play around with it and I promise it won’t take long to learn. You get Blade of Justice at level 19, an important holy power builder which will grow in power as you level. Good luck!
(By the way, holy power builders are similar to abilities like Raging Blow that generate rage, while holy power spenders are similar to rage spenders like Rampage. Many specializations beyond Fury and Ret have builders and spenders like this.)
Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts on this! I’ll deeply take this into consideration!
(sorry for the discussion revive by the way)
Try to always keep the holy power generators on CD as much as possible, especially Jugdement, Blade of Justice and Wake of Ashes ect(the latter two more so because of procs like Art of War and tier 4 piece). Unless they would make you over cap, then spend first. But you should try to spend holy power before that happens. For instance if you have 4 holy power and Blade of Justice is about to come of CD(and no other generators), spend your holy power first. You should try to aim to fill to 5 holy power most of the time. But if every generator is on CD and your not at 5 and have 3 or 4, just spend them.
There are exceptions, such as when using the conduit Virtuous Command. Then you want get in some Final Verdicts or Templar’s Verdicts in during its duration. So have some holy power ready(at least 2, 4 if you can) for when Judgement is coming off CD. Or like when using Execution Sentenced and Final Reckoning. As for when those are active you want to pump as many spenders in as you can. But you should try to build to 5 in preparation for those CDs coming up. For the case of getting a Divine Purpose proc, and you have generators off CD. Put you your generators of CD first(unless over capping) then use up proc and holy power(That’s if the duration on Divine Purpose permits) Unless of course it procs during Virtuous Command, Final Reckoning or Execution Sentence’s duration, then you’ll want to use it
PvP is a different story, its more of a case of spend it if you got it. Other than when preparing to burst. Then you should stack 5 in preparation of popping everything and going to town.
Anyway that’s my amateurs take. Hopefully its not as clear as mud.
I’ll see if I can try and remember that. Thank you though!